Ten Aussie startups that raised $101 million in September

From drones to clean energy, sportstech, e-commerce software and pet insurance, the latest startup funding news has something for everyone (and their dogs).

We may not be seeing the $100 million-plus weeks that we did in July and August, but Aussie startups are still pulling in big numbers.

It’s been a few weeks between our startup funding round-ups, so we thought we’d wrap up all the deals from the month of September.

Take a look at 10 Aussie startups that collectively raised more than $101 million this month.

Infravision: $36 million

Infravision aims to accelerate power grid modernisation with drone-enabled power line upgrades. The $36 million Series A financing round was led by investment firm Energy Impact Partners (EIP), with participation from Equinor Ventures and Edison International.

Co-founders Cameron Van Der Berg and Chris Cox developed their drone hardware and software technology system in 2018. Infravision sets out to install and upgrade power lines in a cost-effective, time-efficient and environmentally conscious manner.

Van Der Berg, a robotics engineer by trade, said Infravision is excited to scale its business in Australia and North America.

“This funding will enable Infravision to invest in the people, products and projects required to establish it as the industry standard for electric utilities and their construction partners on a global scale.

“It is estimated that 10 million miles of new power lines are required by 2030 to reach net-zero targets, which is roughly equivalent to building the entire US and Canadian power grids again, which took us a century, in seven years.

“We’re confident Infravision’s proven technology is the solution for today, and for the future of power line construction automation and grid efficiency.

Amp: $28.5 million

E-commerce software startup AMP has locked in $28.5 million (US$18.5 million) in Series A funding, after attracting some 20,000 customers in the space of 18 months.

AMP was founded by two serial entrepreneurs: New Zealander Cameron Priest, who founded TradeGecko and sold it to Intuit in 2020, and Australian Patrick Barnes, who previously worked at TradeGecko and later went on to found and sell Advocately.

The funding round was led by Openspace Ventures and Jungle Ventures.

As a fully integrated platform, AMP is designed to help e-commerce operators optimise sales, manage shipping and track analytics, instead of relying on multiple disparate apps that don’t work together.

AMP is headquartered in Singapore and has already acquired three other startups to build out its platform. These include a checkout and conversion platform called AppHQ, a shipping startup called Addition and an analytics tool called Lieftimely.

In a statement, Cameron Priest said the startup was “born from a desire to keep things simple”.

“We’ve created a platform of interconnected, high-performance solutions, built to power and scale e-commerce businesses while solving multiple problems from optimising sales, managing shipping and tracking analytics. Over the next year, the AMP platform will see significant additions to its suite of solutions, along with improvements to existing solutions, more integrations and exciting partnerships.”

Neara: $15.25 million

This week, climate tech startup Neara added $15.25 million to its $20 million Series B raise from last last year, bringing its total funds raised to around $45 million to date.

The startup’s latest funding round saw participation from new investor Prosus Ventures, as well as existing backers Skip Capital and Square Peg Capital.

Sydney-based Neara uses AI and machine learning to create 3D digital models to discover underutilised grid capacity, thereby allowing for accelerated clean energy deployment. The company says it has worked with 70% of Australia’s network service providers, which has also led to a new partnership with US energy company Southern California Edison, serving 15 million people to assist with wildfire risk mitigation.

It says the new funding will help it “accelerate the clean energy transition across Australia” and expand into the US and Europe.

“To meet global decarbonisation goals, including  in North America, Europe and Australia, the energy industry needs to significantly integrate more renewable assets,” said Neara’s chief commercial officer Jack Curtis

“Technology plays a critical role in facilitating this transition, and this new funding will help us expand and deliver functionality to network operators, generators, regulators and customers in one unified platform, enabling them to bring renewable generation online faster and at a global scale.”

EngageRM: $6 million

Earlier this month, sportstech startup EngageRM secured $6 million in Series A funding, in a round led by Five V Capital, reports the Australian Financial Review (AFR).

Also participating in the round was Gandel Invest, the investment office of the prominent construction family that also backed EngageRM back in 2021, XT Ventures and unnamed angel investors.

EngageRM provides a platform for professional sporting teams to connect with members, ticket holders and sponsors, and it used by the likes of AFL clubs Collingwood, Carlton and Adelaide. It also counts NRL mainstays the Rabbitohs and Bulldogs among its clients, as well as a host of US basketball, NFL and baseball teams.

Climasens: $5 million

The Climasens Team. Source: Supplied

Melbourne-based startup Climasens has secured a $5 million grant from Google.org for its AI-powered climate risk evaluation tool.

The grant from Google.org’s Impact Challenge on Climate Innovation will see Climasens join forces with New York’s Urban Systems Lab (USL) to develop and scale its ClimateIQ tool, which produces real-time and high-resolution climate risk information across the world.

As previously reported by SmartCompany, Climasens, which specialises in real-time decision support tools for urban heat adaptation and is building global climate resilience software for cities around the world, is now gearing up to expand internationally.

Read more.

Fetch: $3.2 million

L-R – Foo Xin (Co-Founder + CTO), Phil Wilson-Brown (Co-Founder + CEO), George Lewis (Co-Founder + Head of Product). Source: Supplied

Newly launched pet insurance startup Fetch has secured $3.2 million in seed funding, in a round led by AirTree Ventures, as it seeks to offer Australians a more affordable way to manage their pets’ health.

Fetch was founded by Phil Wilson-Brown, George Lewis and Foo Shen Xin, all former executives of insurer IAG, and is underwritten by Pacific International Insurance.

The app-based platform offers yearly cover of $30,000, along with extras including physio, behavioural and dental care.

In a statement, Fetch said it has also formed strategic partnerships with retailers Australian Independent Rural Retailers and Tuckers, dog food startup Scratch, and breeders networks Petspot and DogzOnline.

“There’s now much more we can do to help keep our pets healthy. But costs are on the up. And with only one in 10 pets insured, nearly half of vet treatments are now impacted by our ability to pay, which is putting strain on vets,” said Fetch co-founder and CEO Phil Wilson-Brown.

“At the same time, there’s a new generation of pet parents who have very different attitudes and expectations around their pet’s health. Our goal is to make pet health easier, fairer, and more connected – helping both pet parents and vets.”

Dokotela: $2 million

Unlocked founder and RealVC managing partner Matt Berriman will become chair of healthtech company Dokotela, after his VC fund invested $2 million in the startup’s seed funding round.

Berriman, who is also chair of Mental Health Australia, said the telehealth startup is working to improve Australians’ access to psychiatrists, of which there is a shortage in Australia, reports the AFR.

Sydney-based Dokotela, which was founded by Anita Mustac, provides access to psychiatrists via video calls, as well as prescriptions for medication.

Flagship: $2 million

Flagship founder Simon Molnar and Tidal partner, Georgie Turner. Source: supplied

Retail technology platform Flagship has secured $2 million in a seed funding round led by Tidal Ventures, which will see the Sydney-based startup continue its mission to transform retail by helping bricks-and-mortar operators embrace data-driven insights in the same way that e-commerce players do.

Founded by Simon Molnar, the brother of Afterpay co-founder Nick Molnar, Flagship plans to use its new funding to build out its engineering and product teams, and pursue expansion plans across Australia, the US and beyond.

Read more.

Traffyk.ai: $1.8 million

Also raising in September was Traffyk.ai, an AI-based employee communications startup that aims to help businesses become more efficient and productive by calculating the cost of time spent writing emails and attending meetings.

As reported by Startup Daily, Traffyk.ai has raised $1.8 million in seed funding, in a round led by Matt Williams.

The Sydney-based startup was founded by former CBA communications boss Kate Abrahams and Alex Manchester, also a former CBA employee. It plans to spend the fresh funding on product improvements and growing its team.

Tikpay: $1.6 million

The Tikpay team. Source: Tikpay

Ticketing startup tikpay also closed a $1.6 million pre-seed funding round this month, in a round led by AfterWork Ventures and Black Nova VC, with participation from Investible, Func Ventures, Metagrove Ventures and two unnamed “industry insiders”.

The startup is building an innovative, cloud-based transport ticketing platform to take the pain out of using public transport. Rather than needing a tangible card to tap on and off public transport, the system stores user information in a back-office account, which allows them to use a mixture of fare medium, including credit cards, digital wallets and QR codes, as well as multiple funding sources and payment groups.

The new funding will go towards building out tikpay platform, as well as the startup’s sales execution and bolstering its in-house tech team.

Read more.